The Saudi Arabian government is objecting to a number of proposed new Internet address endings, including .gay, .bar, .baby and .islam.
The country claims the .gay domain would promote homosexuality and would be offensive to “many societies and cultures.” Saudi Arabia’s Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) filed objections to 31 domain extensions, primarily on cultural and religious grounds.
The suffixes are some of the 1,930 top-level domain names currently being considered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization in charge of managing Internet naming standards. If approved, the dot-extensions would be available for new URLs, joining familiar extensions .com and .org, and country extensions such as .uk.
New top-level domains would greatly expand the number of possible website addresses around the world, but getting the world to agree on common terms, trademarks and topics is a complicated undertaking.
ICANN opened up the application process to the public, charging $185,000 for each nomination, and announced the list of candidates in June. As part of the open consideration process, third-parties are allowed to file official comments of opposition or support for these top-level domains. So far, the group has received 6,185 comments from individuals, organizations, companies and governments, including 166 from the Saudi Arabian government
“Many societies and cultures consider homosexuality to be contrary to their culture, morality or religion,” says the CITC, which regulates information technology in Saudi Arabia. The objections filed by Saudi Arabia highlight the cultural issues at play for many of the more controversial domains, including anything having to do with sex, gambling, drinking and religion.
When Johnson & Johnson applied for the .baby name, it was likely thinking it was a great way to promote its line of well-known baby products. However, in its complaint, the Saudi Arabian government says the name could be used to host pornographic websites, and that “pornography undermines gender equality and threatens public morals.” The government uses the same reason in objections to various sex-related top-level domains, including .porn, .sexy, .adult, .hot, .sex, .dating and .virgin.
The country is objecting to .islam because the applicant is a private company that “cannot represent the whole or even a majority of the worldwide Muslim community.” It argues that all religious communities should have a say in any approval of any related domain extensions, or they should be banned altogether.
Saudi Arabia isn’t the only government filing complaints with ICANN. American clothing retailer Patagonia has applied for .patagonia, riling up the government of Argentina where the Patagonia region, named by Magellan in 1520, is located. The Royal Australian Navy is objecting to the .oldnavy and .navy extensions due to an Australian law that prohibits anyone not in the navy from using the word without permission.
International trademark disputes are also common, a company name trademarked in one country may belong to an entirely different corporation someplace else, as is the issue with .abc (used by the American Broadcasting Company and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and .merck.
ICANN won’t comment on individual applications, but it has set up a detailed system for handling the debate over each disputed top-level domain. It estimates the dispute resolution process will take up to five months and will include criminal background checks on applicants. The organization will approve new names in batches, with the first 500 names expected to roll out next spring.
Companies have a lot of money at stake in this Internet land grab, both brands that want their own vanity domains and the Internet registries that will profit by selling the new URLs. General names are the most sought after, including .app, .inc and .music.
The public can submit objections until September 26.
from CNN
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Related Post:

U.S. Seeks Veto Powers Over New Domain Names

Competing Groups Press For A ‘.Gay’ Internet Suffix

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J. R. Sorensen

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO – Last month, a Colorado Springs man leaving a gay pride parade calmly explained to police officers who were threatening to beat him that the his Second Amendment rights to carry a firearm were being violated.
Three weeks later, the Colorado Springs Police Department has publicly agreed with J.R. Sorensen.
“He was right and we were in the wrong, definitely,” police spokeswoman Barbara Miller told the Colorado Springs Gazette. Colorado Springs Police did not return calls from FOX31 seeking comment.
All police had to do to review the incident was watch a publicly-posted video of the incident shot by Sorensen’s partner.
Sorensen was leaving a Pridefest at Acacia Park on July 21 when police told him it was illegal to be carrying the 40-caliber handgun that was holstered on his hip.
Sorensen told officers that in order for carrying a weapon in the park to be illegal, there had to be a sign posted disclosing that in as many words. Believing his knowledge of the law to be superior, an officer told Sorensen in the video that “ignorance of the law is not an affirmative defense.”
The officers’ rhetoric quickly escalated. After Sorensen refused to raise his arms when he was asked to do so, an officer came from off camera and informed Sorensen, “You’re about to get the (expletive) kicked out of you.”
Three weeks later, Police are finding it was their officers who were ignorant of the law.
Saying their officers were working off an outdated cheat sheet, Colorado Springs police said they were wrong to arrest Sorenson and wrong to detain him for 15 minutes before that arrest. All charges have been dropped.
In the video, Sorenson is heard asking officers if his arrest was due to his sexual orientation.
“This is because I’m gay, isn’t it?” said Sorensen, who is an Army veteran. “I’m gay and I’m carrying a weapon. You wanted to tase me because I wasn’t going to give you my identification, and then you were going to arrest me for not giving you my ID. .. I have no reason to give you my ID, but I did because I don’t want this to go on.”
When asked about the incident after the fact, Soreseon said he was “a little embarrassed” about the way the events unfolded. That doesn’t mean he would change how he handled it.
“The police just wanted to keep me standing there for a half hour making a spectacle,” Sorenson said. “When you go somewhere and it says no weapons, you don’t take a weapon with you. It’s real easy. If there had been a posted sign somewhere, I wouldn’t have taken the weapon with me.”
The issued apology from the police means little to both Sorenson and his partner. The two have obtained a lawyer and plan to sue the city for the actions documented on cell phone video.
from KDVR TV

Ron Palillo / Horshack

FLORIDA – Ron Palillo has died of an apparent heart attack. The actor is survived by his longtime partner Joseph Gramm. For some fans, the tragic occasion of Ron Palillo’s death is the first time they are learning that the man who portrayed Horshack was gay.
On Tuesday morning, Gramm discovered Palillo’s lifeless body in the home that they shared in Palm Beach. The actor was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to TMZ.
Palillo’s co-star Robert Hegyes, who played Juan Epstein on “Welcome Back, Kotter,” died of a heart attack in January of this year. He was 60.
The 63-year-old actor played Arnold Horshack on the television series “Welcome Back, Kotter” in the 1970s. It was a show that would propel co-star John Travolta to stardom. Although Ron Palillo would never reach the same heights of superstardom as Travolta, his iconic role as Horshack will never be forgotten.
from The Examiner

Dallas Mahaney

WINDSOR, CANADA – Windsor’s Catholic board tried to condemn gay-straight alliances from forming in its schools, but now the province has forced its hand.
The Catholic board reversed its initial decision and must now allow the name if students make the request, which is exactly what one high school student intends to do.
“There’s a lot of homophobia at our school and I think it would benefit our school a lot to have a safe environment for everyone,” said Dallas Mahaney.
The 16-year-old Saint Thomas of Villanova Catholic High School said he’s comfortable with being gay. He hopes the alliance will help destroy homophobia.
“It helps when you have friends and family that support you,” Mahaney said about his sexuality.
“They said it was alright, nothing is going to change and they still love me. They just said to be yourself and love who you are,” he said.
On May 29, CBC News reported the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board will roll out student equality clubs.
They said the title is non-negotiable and students cannot name the groups the “Gay-Straight Alliance.”
The Catholic board found itself backpedalling because of Bill 13, which amended the Education Act with new bullying and discrimination provisions.
“Our position is to be fully compliant with the law. We’re law abiding citizens and it’s important as adults and as leaders in the school system to show that and to follow the mandate based on the Bill 13 guidelines so we will put structures in place,” said Superintendant of Education Mike Seguin.
Sequin said the schools will comply with any request to name a group the “Gay-Straight Alliance.”
“We’re actually planning for that right now for students to make those requests. We still are going to go forward with our social justice equity clubs because we feel that we need to have a place for all people and that they feel comfortable,” said Seguin.
Mahaney said it was important for him to tackle the issue head-on and bring a “Gay-Straight Alliance” to his school.
“I’ve seen a lot of deaths in the (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community and it’s among all the teenagers and I thought if I could save one person’s life, it’s something that I need to do,” said Mahaney.
The Windsor Pride Community Centre is involved by helping students across Windsor-Essex learn about leadership and mentoring to help improve gay-straight alliances with a new Schools Out Program.
“Perhaps a diversity club isn’t facing the same sort of pressure that a gay-straight alliance will. So we want to make sure that they know how to effectively run events and effectively communicate with each other and the administration to make sure they are always doing the right things,” said Jouvon Evans, Windsor Pride facilitator.
Evans said she was elated when the province forced schools to let students name school groups as the choose.
“Everyone was really pleased. I think just in general everyone thought that it was something that many people felt was necessary, but it now reinforced it in law,” said Evans.
She said students have been productive and enthusiastic about having a “gay-straight alliance” in their schools.
Mahney is one of those students, who said these groups can only help everyone.
“A lot of facts state that a gay-straight alliance will only benefit a school. It won’t make it worse because it promotes the LGBT, it gives education, history, stops harassment and its reported more incidents that take place,” said Mahaney.
Mahaney said he hopes the gay-straight alliance he’s trying to bring to his high school will be a success.
But said it probably won’t be a seamless transition.
“I think we need a big turnout and the school being OK with it and allowing it, encouraging it and promoting it,” said Mahaney.
from CBC
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